Cleaning out my closet
by TADAHmon
Summary: No, it's not a Eminem like fiction. It's a simply sad fiction that I rated PG because... It's soooooooooooooooooo sad.


Cleaning out my closet.   
  
Written and editted by: TADAH Motomiya.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold!... Last I checked, anyway. If you find out that I do, please e-mail me and notify me! Ok? This is timed after the confession... *coughs* Ugh. I can-can't believe... I'm writing this.  
  
  
Helga sighed loudly as she stared out of the bus window. They were going on another school trip, to a more impressive place than a chocolate factory or an aquarium. Now, they were going to... the Grand Canyon. It was going to be a ridiculously long drive, but she figured anything was better than being stuck at home with Miriam and Big Bob, so when she heard of the trip, she was slightly excited. I mean, criminey! Not many nine year olds get to go to the Grand Canyon on a school trip. Of course, the reason they were on the bus was because the school didn't have proper funds to send a bunch of nine year olds on a train. She glanced over at Arnold, who was talking with Gerald, as usual. She sighed, but then bristled in jealousy as she noticed that Arnold was staring at Lila, who was talking to Nadine. It had been about five months since Helga had told her true feelings, and just afterwards, Helga felt very lost. She just wasn't sure what she should do, what he would do. She used to stay awake all night long, pondering whether Arnold would tell her secret, and what she would do if he did. Because of this, for awhile, she acted meaner to him than usual, but when weeks passed and nothing happened, Phoebe convinced Helga that Arnold would tell no one. It was just because of this that Helga ceased in the unnormal meanness and returned to the usual taunts. Now she worried that he might have forgotten her confession, but she varied on it; she wasn't sure if it would be a hurt if he forgot, or a blessing in disguise.  
Phoebe watched her friend for awhile, then looked out the window at the passing scenery. "Helga, what are you going to do when we arrive there?"  
"Hmm? Oh. What does everyone else do at the Grand Canyon? They look at it, right? Well, I'll do that..." She answered half-heartedly.  
"Oh..." Phoebe nodded and started to count different trees that were passed. "One hundred, fifty-four... One hundred fifty-five... One hundred fifty-six..." She was up to three hundred, twelve when she fell asleep.  
Helga had fallen asleep long before, at like twenty-nine.  
Most of the kids were asleep, matter of a fact, except for Lila, who was writing down some homework. She was the only to have brought work; even Phoebe decided to leave it at home so she could have some fun. Brainy, also, sat, watching everyone. He eyed Lila for awhile, and then looked over to Arnold, his eyes squinting just slightly. Finally he looked over to Helga, and he started wheezing ever so silently, as to not wake her up.  
"This is just ever so ridiculous!" He heard someone whisper.  
Looking down, he was surprised to see Lila looking down at the floor of the bus. Apparently, she had dropped her pencil as the bus hit a bump, and it rolled over to the back of the bus. "Uh... here," He wheezed, grabbing the yellow wooden stick off of the floor, and handing it to her.  
"Thank you ever so much, Brainy. That's ever so sweet of you," Lila commented, taking the inanimate object from him and walking back to her seat.  
Mr. Simmons was sitting in one of the seats at the front of the bus and was supposed to be watching the map, to make sure they didn't get lost, but he was nodding off too.  
Stinky was the first to wake up, after falling sideways, when the bus hit another large bump. He landed right on Sid, who woke up also, screaming something about "attacking ghosts". "I reckon you were having a nightmare, on account of yer screaming?" Stinky suggested, peering closely at Sid.  
"Stinky, get off of me!" Sid bellowed.  
"Oh, shut up, you two sissies!" Helga yelled, awake now. In fact, all of the kids and Mr. Simmons were awake.  
"Now, now, I know you all need your own 'special' ways of expressing yourselves, but could you please quiet down?" Mr. Simmons requested.  
"Yeah, you heard him!" Harold yelled, causing the teacher to wince.  
"Are you deaf, Pink Boy? He meant you too!" Helga exclaimed.  
"Yeah, really, Bubba," Gerald commented, the quietest of them all.  
"Don't call me that!"  
"Ok!" Mr. Simmons suddenly stood in the aisle of the bus, staring at his class. "I think we need a rest. Mr. Mathers, please could you find us a rest stop?"  
"Yes!" Harold whooped. "Oh, man. I'm soooo hungry!"  
"What's new?" Helga grumbled, resting back against her seat.  
"I heard that, Madam Fortress Mommy!"  
"Where did he think of this?" Helga thought, rolling her eyes.  
  
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After spending an hour and fourty five minutes at the rest stop, they were all ready to head back on the road. It was starting to get dark, and the purplish streaks in the sky contrasted against the black asphalt of the highway they were on. Helga was the first to exit the stop, and leaned against the bus, staring at the sky. She was silenced by the odd tranquilness of the area, the feel of what an open highway can mean, the odd freeness, the thought that a person could go anywhere in the U.S.A. if they followed that simple strip of black concrete.  
"Pretty, hmm, Helga?" Arnold stepped out of the building, and stared at her for a minute, before daring to speak.  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is, Football Head."  
"We can't see this kind of sunset back at home," He commented, walking up next to her.  
"Yup." The two lapsed into silence again, watching as orange joined the purple, followed by deep red and pink hues.  
"Come on, kids, we better get going so we can get there before it gets really late," Mr. Simmons commented, walking onto the bus. The others followed slowly, tired despite their sleep earlier that afternoon.   
The kids all sat, or fell, like Harold, into their seats, and some instantly fell asleep, like Phoebe and Lila. Helga, however, sat looking through the window as the sun went down fully and the moon came up, a small little sliver of silver, that could disappear into nothingness at any second, it looked so tiny. She glanced away long enough to notice Arnold's eyes on her. "Ooh..." She thought, looking down at her hands, then looked back up at the moon.  
Arnold smiled lightly to himself and glanced away. It was a little weird to him, a bully who had taunted him most his life liking him... Or, in her words, loving him. Ok, that line did creep him out. He had had alot of time to think about it. The more he thought, the more possible it seemed. I mean, so much stuff had just happened in the past year that were clues! Simple little clues, that if he looked beyond the obvious, he could've seen. The little pink book, the parrot, the hat, the 'taking a walk on the fire escape' thing. What was that about anyway? Maybe if he could catch Helga in a good mood, he'd ask her. He glanced across the row at her again, and noticed her staring at him, as if daydreaming, because her eyes didn't move for a long time, fixated on him. Finally, she blinked and looked at him, then turned her head and continued to look out the window. He rolled his eyes. Girls!  
  
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Helga walked out of the bus, and stretched achily. Part of the night had been spent driving, and the rest was spent with them sleeping in the uncomfortable seats. But at last they were here, in Grand Canyon, where they could explore until they had to start back in the bus at four p.m. that afternoon.   
Phoebe walked up behind her, still looking drowzy. "I never want to take such a long bus ride again."   
Helga laughed a little. "Oh well, Pheebs. It is Saturday, after all. We'll be able to sleep in tomorrow and be fine by school Monday."  
"Yes, I suppose," The short Japanese girl answered, pushing her glasses up more securely on her nose with her pointer finger.  
"Well, decided to wake up finally, eh, Football Head?" Helga commented to Arnold as he stepped out of the bus, yawning.  
His hair looked more unrulier than usual. "Good morning to you too, Helga," He commented, walking past her. His clothes were very wrinkled and his hat was hanging off of his head in a weird way.  
Helga took the time to watch as her school mates exited the bus, each looking funnier than the latter. Gerald followed Arnold, his tall hair hanging limply over his forehead covering his eyes, making it look like it would be impossible to walk in a straight line. However, although Helga was hoping that he would trip and fall, he walked easily over to a small bathroom; the girl's bathroom was over on the other side of it, but Helga wouldn't miss this for the world. Besides her hair and clothes weren't messed up. She scoffed as Harold stumbled off of the bus, and immediately fell to the ground; I mean, total egg on face. He landed right on Eugene, who was stumbling around, his messy red hair blocking his vision.  
"I'm... ok!" She heard him exclaim weakly, his skinny arm waving out from underneath Harold.  
Just then, Sid and Stinky walked off, each looking worse than the other. Sid's cap was off of his head, causing his black hair to stick straight up. Stinky's hair looked the same, but he had big circles under his eyes, and was stifling a deep yawn. "I reckon that was the worst night sleep I ever got, on account of I feel so jet-lagged..."  
Rhonda followed. "Oh, my. Where is the room to freshen up?"   
Helga grinned and pointed towards the girl's room, knowing that Rhonda would love this one. As the raven haired so-called "Princess" walked snootily off to that direction, Helga readied herself.  
"AUGHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone stopped in their activities at this scream. "I cannot get dressed in there!" The girl exclaimed, running out, a look of plain and utter horror on her face. "I am Rhonda Wellington Lloyd! Lloyds do not get ready in such... places!" She wailed, motioning towards the building that had thus offended her.  
"Calm down, Rhonda!" Nadine told her frenzied friend. "I mean, we all have to use that room. Just don't worry about it. Tonight, we'll have returned home, and you won't have to worry about using it ever again."  
Rhonda thought this over, and tried to regain her composure. "Of course, you're right, Nadine. Let's get this over with..."  
Helga laughed. "Get ready for a long wait, Pheebs!"  
"Readying, Helga," Phoebe commented, standing just feet away from her. Suddenly, her eyes shifted, following Gerald as he walked past, dressed and hair fully combed, up straight like it always is.  
Helga scoffed, watching her best friend. "Paleeze, Pheebs... Don't make me lose my breakfast."  
Phoebe looked up at Helga innocently, a smile fading over her face. "How could that happen, Helga? We haven't even had breakfast."  
"Well, whatever, Pheebs. When we have it, then, you don't make me lose it, ok?"  
"Ok!"  
  
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A little later that day, it was getting hot. It was slightly humid that morning, but now it was just incredibly sizzling. All of the kids were wiping sweat away as it poured down their faces, into their shirts, causing their clothing to stick to their skin. "This is worse than the brownout we had a few months ago at home," Gerald grumbled to Arnold.  
"Unfortuantly, we have no Jollie Ollie Man to beat up this time," Helga grumbled, who just happened to have heard him.  
"Aw, I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hungry!" Harold wailed, holding his stomach. at the mention of Jollie Ollie. "If I keep sweating, I'm gonna die of hunger!"  
"Criminey, Pink Boy!" Helga exclaimed.   
"We're all sweating, Bubba, and we weigh a lot less than you," Gerald spoke up.  
"Quit calling me that or I'll pound ya!" Harold growled, then groaned. "Or... I'll pound ya after I eat..."  
"Hey, Pink Boy, isn't that a ham sandwich over there?" Helga inquired, pointing towards one of the safety rails around the crevice of the Grand Canyon.  
"Uh?" He turned and ran off, and Helga chuckled. Even Gerald had a grin on his face. "HEY!!!!" They heard him scream. "HELGAAAAAA!"  
She shook her head and stalked off, heading towards Phoebe.  
"Hello, Helga. How is Ice Cream?"  
"Hmm? Oh, Ice cream's good. You think this Canyon is a little boring?"  
"Well, not really. It's quite fascinating, actually."  
"Uh huh." Helga looked over the nearest edge, noticing the sharp mountainous edges. Her sight shifted as Arnold walked over to... Lila?!? Please! Not this again.  
Phoebe watched as Helga kept her eyes locked on the two, frowning to herself.  
"What does that little goody-goody two shoes have that I don't? I mean, criminey!" She glanced around and decided that it wouldn't work to sneak away to have a love rant, unless... She glanced back over the edge, and quickly looked around. No one, not even Phoebe, who was engrossed in talking with Geraldo, was paying attention to her. "Good," She mumbled, and ran to the safety railing, slipped under it and slowly, carefully, climbed downwards, trying to find a place to be alone.   
When Phoebe finally got done talking to Gerald fifteen minutes later, she noticed instantly that her best friend wasn't next to her. "Hmm," She sighed and started to search for her. "Ok, so she isn't in the bus, girl's bathroom, or anywhere..." She decided, after searching for almost fourty-five minutes.  
Just then, Mr. Simmons stepped up to the bus. "Ok, kids! It's almost time to start heading back to our special homes. Let's take a roll call first, ok?" After the past scare of leaving Helga and Harold behind at the chocolate factory, he didn't want to go through that again. "Harold... Phoebe... Arnold... Gerald... Eugene... Nadine... Rhonda... Sheena... Sid... Stinky... Brainy... Helga..." As Mr. Simmons called out their names, the kids would say, "here" or "present" or "yes," in the case of Rhonda. But when he called Helga, the bully's voice didn't accompany the others. "Helga!" He repeated louder, in case she didn't hear him. "Helga!?"  
"Well, gee willikers! It looks like Helga just ain't here!" Stinky claimed, looking, like all the kids were, around for the blonde haired girl with the unibrow.  
"Oh, no, oh, no," Mr. Simmons kept murmuring, panicking. "I'll lose my job, the school'll be sued, it'll be forced to shut down, thousands of children will go without learning. And it'll be all my fault for losing Helga!"  
Just then, Brainy stepped forward and cleared his throat. Noticing all of the children eyeing him, he started to wheeze, but cleared his throat again and tried to relax. "H-Helga sneaked under the safety railing, and went down the crevice."  
All of the kids gasped, and Mr. Simmons turned pale and fainted.  
"Oh, man, now what do we do?" Gerald asked.  
"What else can we do, Gerald? We have to find her. She might be in trouble," Arnold answered.  
"You're a bold kid, Arnold. But, ok, I follow ya. So what's the plan?" Ever since they saved the neighborhood, Gerald had decided not to disagree with what Arnold might suggest.  
"I want to search," Phoebe announced suddenly.  
"But, Phoebe,..." Gerald started to protest.  
"No, Gerald! She's my best friend. I have to search! Please, don't stop me!" Tears welled up behind Phoebe's glasses, and the African-American boy couldn't protest.   
"Ok. So the three of us will go look, and the rest of you, stay here with Mr. Simmons," Arnold ordered.  
"Good luck," Sheena wished him, the first words she had spoken in the whole trip.  
"Thanks," He answered, before crawling under the safety rails. "Helga?!" He yelled. He felt oddly disturbed about this, like something wasn't quite right.  
"Helga?" Phoebe followed him, calling for her best friend.  
"Yo, Helga!" Gerald finished up the search party, as he tried to balance on the rocky slope, and then suddenly reached out and grabbed Phoebe from beneath the arms as she started to slide down the side of the mountain.  
"Oh..." She gasped, clinging to him.  
"It's ok, I got ya." Working together, the two slowly followed Arnold, who was making surprisingly quick advances on the slope, already almost a quarter of the way down.  
He still couldn't shake this awful feeling that was nagging at him, feeling like it could pull him down the mountain too. Suddenly, he paused, listening. There it was again. Was it to his right, or his left? He turned to his right, and heard her calling from the other side. "Helga?!?"  
"Arnold..." Her voice was very weak, but he could still hear it.  
"Helga!" He ran past a large rock, and paused in front of her. He was immediately speechless at first sight of her.  
She was sprawled out on her back, looking up at the late day sky, blood streaming from a cut in her head, dripping onto her shoulders, dying her hair and clothes to a dark red color.  
"Helga..." He slowly walked up to her, and held her hand. Tears were streaming down his face already, as she looked over at him with a light smile. "What happened to you, Helga?" He whispered.  
"I... was sneaking down... here... when I slipped," She spoke haltingly.  
"Ok. Don't speak any more. Just... Hold your strength up."  
She smiled wistfully at him, and winced in pain. She knew her time was drawing near, but it was odd. She didn't feel sad about this. She looked up at Phoebe and Gerald as they walked around the rock, and stared at her.  
"No..." Phoebe murmured, sobbing immediately.  
"Oh, man," Gerald murmured, drawing Phoebe near to him, turning her away from Helga.  
"Get help, Gerald. Take, take Phoebe and get help," Arnold ordered shakily. "I mean, I left my cell phone in the bus, ok? Go back and call for help with that."  
"Sure, man, sure." Gerald carefully dragged Phoebe, who was still sobbing pitifully, away.  
"Helga?" Arnold whispered.  
"Yeah, Football Head?" She weakly murmured this, her eyes just slightly opened.  
"Help is coming... Just hang on," He encouraged, his eyes still very moist.  
She smiled lightly. "Once an optomist, always an optomist, eh, Arnoldo?"  
"Yeah..." He chuckled weakly, and suddenly wrapped his arms around her. "Helga..."  
"Uh huh?"  
"I- I- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He rubbed her back, ignoring the blood that trickled through his fingers.  
"What for, Football head?"  
"For it all, Helga... I..."  
"Arnold, why? This isn't your fault. It's no one's, except for the asteroid that supposedly created this crater." She stared at him, her eyes serious. Not snapping in anger, or drowning in sarcasticness. Just plain serious and lovely.  
He hugged her close to him again, feeling her blood seep into his shirt. "I don't know... Just it all. I was like the rest. I marked you off as a bully, and nothing more. I should've known better."  
"Arnoldo, how would you have known? I always acted like a freaking bully." She slammed her fist against the ground weakly, ignoring the pain that it sent up her arm.  
"Yeah, but I... I did see the good you in a few occasions, you know... I should've known that that was the real you, and not... tough ol' Helga G. Pataki."  
She smiled slightly and pulled away from him, staring into his tear-filled eyes. "Heh, Arnold..." She wiped his tears away and smiled brightly at him. "It'll be ok, you'll see."  
He took a deep breath, and released it shakely. "Helga..." He rested her back onto the ground, and smiled a tiny, wavery smile at her.  
"Arnold, you know what?" Saying this, she reached into her shirt, and pulled something out. He briefly glanced at her hand, noticing the sparkle of gold, but was so enraptured with staring at her face, he didn't even give it a thought. "I have... something for you." She rested her hand in his, and smiled one last time at him, then her head fell to the side, and she was gone.  
"No... No!" He rested his head on hers, cradling her in his arms. "Helga..." He pressed his lips against hers and sobbed. He clasped her hand, not even recognizing the feel of metal. "Why..."  
Just then, Phoebe, Gerald and Mr. Simmons arrived. "Oh, no." Phoebe wailed. Although she figured that it would happen, from all the blood loss, she had prayed all the way to the top and back that it wouldn't.  
Gerald hugged her to him, trying to comfort her, watching as Mr. Simmons approached Arnold.  
"Arnold... move," He ordered silently. "Move, Arnold, please, move!"  
"You'll be ok, for a sec, Phoebe?" At her nod, Gerald released her and brushed past the teacher, resting his hand on his best friend's back. "Arnold, man, let Mr. Simmons look at her."  
Arnold seemed to be in a daze, and as he pulled away from her, he didn't remove his swollen eyes from her still form. It was so insane. A nine year old, dying during a trip to Grand Canyon? Why did she have to sneak away? WHY?!? She could have stayed up at the top, where she was supposed to... He sobbed quietly, sitting down on the hard rock floor. It was bumpy and uncomfortable, but he didn't care. "Helga..." He whispered. When he finally bothered to open the palm of his hand, a large golden locket with his picture in it stared up at him. When it hit him that it was Helga's, he started to cry harder, and then held it close to his heart.   
  
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The bus ride home was solemn, with many of the kids crying or just staring out of the windows of the bus, mulling over the sudden death of the fourth grade bully. Even Harold and Rhonda kept quiet through the whole ride. Phoebe was still crying, so Gerald sat with her so she wouldn't feel lonely, and Arnold sat next to Brainy. Neither spoke much through the first half of the trip, but by the second half, Arnold noticed Brainy staring at him. "What?" His voice was low, hoarse and cross sounding, but it didn't convince Brainy to not say what he was planning.  
"Helga... I saw her sneak away."  
"Yes, I know." Suddenly it was like a flame took Arnold and just completely engulfed him. "Why didn't you tell anyone?!"  
"Because. I knew. I always knew what she needed. And right then, she needed time alone to talk to the very locket you're holding in your hand."   
"Uh.. This?" He held the piece of jewelery up and examined it. "Why would she talk to this?"  
"Because it had your picture in it. To her, it was a suitable replacement of you, as if talking to it would make her feel better, and at times, it did. I was watching her watch you." Here he wheezed a little, the first time in this whole conversation.  
"Ok. So she was watching me. What made her sneak away?" Arnold asked, staring at the golden locket.  
"Well... She noticed you approach Lila. You don't know how jealous Lila made her feel... Ruth... and Summer too. In fact, every crush you ever had made her jealous."  
Arnold looked down and sighed. "How do you know so much about her?"  
And suddenly, Brainy turned into ol' non-talkative Brainy, just like that. He had said his piece, or rather, her piece, and now his vocal cords were no longer needed. He had given Arnold enough to think of for the next few days.  
Her funeral was going to be on the upcoming Wednesday, and school was canceled on that day so that anyone could go there if they wanted.  
For Arnold, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday passed for him in a blur. He stayed in bed for full days, just thinking, and holding her locket close to him. He was definitely taking it hard, but there was someone taking this even harder.  
Yup, Phoebe Hyerdhal. She also stayed in bed for three days straight, and wasn't planning on going to the funeral, or anything. She decided she couldn't face the world without her best friend. Gerald had called many, many times daily and even came over to visit a couple times, but she wouldn't see or talk with him. At night, she had gruesome dreams that just became constant reminders of what her friend looked like before and after her death. Her body was so mangled and bloodied...  
However, on Wednesday, the two kids' lives would have a jumpstart. On Tuesday night, Arnold and Phoebe both fell into a sudden sleep at the same time: 9:28 p.m. and they both started having the same dream.  
"Phoebe?" Arnold inquired, surprised to see her.  
"Arnold?" She was equally surprised to see him.  
"Well, now that you two know each other..." A familiar voice sweeped over them.  
"Helga?!" They both exclaimed.  
"Hi, you two..." She appeared in front of them, a white dress flowing down her shoulders and over her body. Her blonde hair flowed naturally, and she looked quite cute.  
"Oh, man, Helga!" Phoebe ran to her, and wrapped her arms around her. When she finally released Helga, she sniffed and stared up at her, confusion filling her black, tear filled eyes. "I thought one couldn't hug or touch a..."  
Helga smiled as her friend paused. "A ghost? An angel? Whatever. Yeah, well. This is your dream world, you see. So you can do anything you wanna." She glanced over at Arnold. "Hey, Football Head."  
Tears glistened in his eyes at this remark. "You haven't changed at all, Helga," He commented with a smile.  
"Hey, hey, hey, is that a good thing, or not?" She demanded.  
"It's good," He answered, walking up to her.  
"You bet it is, Bucko."  
He laughed a little and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.  
She smiled and returned the hug, then pulled away and stared at the two of them, a mean look in her eyes. "Now, I see two people have put their lives on pause so they stay in bed for days at a time, and mope. Now c'mon, I'm flattered and all, but ya know, I don't wanna hear that you two stay in bed till you're fourty cause of me! Phoebe, get out of that bed, go to school, spend time with Gerald and do what you'd normally do. Same to you, Football Head."  
The two smiled and looked at the floor. As she walked closer to them, the room they were in transformed from a plain white area to her bedroom. She paused suddenly, and looked at her bed, then frowned.  
Miriam and Big Bob laid, she on Helga's bed, and he on Helga's floor, sleeping fitfully.  
"Hmm. Mom... Dad..." She mumbled, resting her hand on her mom's face. Immediately, Miriam relaxed and a tiny smile passed over her face. When Helga rested her hand on Big Bob's face, he stopped scowling and mumbling in his sleep. She sighed and turned back to her friends, then shrugged. "Hey, I mean, they are my parents. I don't want them having nightmares."  
Phoebe smiled at her. "Helga, how much longer can we stay here?"  
"Not much, I'm afraid, Pheebs. I'm wanting to show Football head something, so here." She walked over to Phoebe and gave her a sudden hug. "Bye, Phoebe..."  
"Bye, Helga..." Phoebe woke up with a start, mumbling that.  
"Now, Football head, it's just you and I."  
"What do you wanna show me, Helga?"  
"Come on." She took his hand and pulled him over to her closet. "I'm not opening this door. But tomorrow, after you go to my funeral, I want you to come here, and look in this closet. If you see anything you want, go ahead. I mean, I'm dead. I have nothing to hide. And it's not like I want all of this thrown away." She glanced down at the floor, and then looked back up, smiling at Arnold. "You take care of my best friend, ok? And yourself, of course, but I'm sure you'll do that."  
He nodded. What should he say now? Uh, well, yeah, you take care of yourself, too? That'd be classy. "I will." They just stood, he staring at her and she staring at he.  
"Last chance, Arnold..." She reminded him.  
"Oh." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, then locked lips with her in a long kiss.  
"Bye, Arnoldo..." She murmured after pulling away from him.  
When he disappeared and reawoke in the real world, it was Wednesday morning and he jumped out of bed, as ready as he would ever be for... the funeral.  
  
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It was now 10 in the morning. Arnold sat uncomfortably in one of the pews, looking around at his different class mates that were sitting in the pews behind him.   
The seating was just a little odd, as if to show what the future would bring for relationships, and the like. In the first row, Miriam, Big Bob and Olga sat, solemnly staring ahead at the burgandy colored casket in front of them that held the body of their youngest. Miriam and Olga wore simple, yet beautiful, black dresses. Big Bob wore a black suit that looked pretty good on him.  
In the second row, cousins, aunts, uncles and Miriam's mom sat.  
In the third row, friends of Bob, Miriam and Olga sat.  
In the fourth row, Arnold, Phil, Gertie, Brainy, Lila, her dad, Phoebe, her parents, Gerald and his parents sat. They are only nine, people... Do you think their parents would let 'em go to a funeral alone?  
In the fifth row, Rhonda, Harold, Eugene, Sheena, Sid and Stinky sat with their parent/parents. The two rows behind that were empty.  
Before the ceremony had started, Arnold had walked over to her casket, but couldn't look into it. It was too hard for him, and now as he listened to the pastor, he was thinking about it. "I guess I should look into it... But... Oh. I have to. They're going to bury her after this." He looked awful, although the sleep he got last night after that dream was fairly peaceful. He felt dry, like the tears in him were all gone. Like he could never cry again, and if he did, he might never stop. When the pastor finally stopped talking, Arnold watched until other people started walking around, and noticed when a few of his classmates walked up to the casket. He followed them slowly, sucking in a deep breath before looking into the casket.  
They really did a nice job on her, she didn't look pale or anything. In fact, if he didn't know better, it looked like she could just jump right out of the casket and call him Football Head. In fact, as he stood there, he swore he could hear her, "What are you lookin' at, Football Head?" He smiled wistfully and then went over to where his grandparents were standing, ready to leave.  
"You coming, Shortman?"  
"Yeah, Grandpa. Let's go."  
Gertie just looked back with a sigh, for once totally quiet.  
  
_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^  
  
Later on, about three that afternoon, Arnold was ready to explore Helga's closet. He felt a little odd, entering the Pataki household just hours after the funeral and burial, but he was determined to get it done. Besides, what did she say? She didn't want her stuff in the closet thrown away and that he could take some of it if he pleased? That she had nothing to hide anymore... Uh... What did that mean? He sighed and ran downstairs, out of his black suit now, and into the usual. "Hey, Grandma," He exclaimed upon notice of her. "I'm gonna go out for awhile. Be back soon!"  
"Ok, Kimba! Good to see him in a better mood," The old woman said, nodding to the fly that buzzed annoyingly around her kitchen.  
He ran down the stairs, careful not to trip over the parade of pets as they ran into the boarding house, hissing, barking and, yup, oinking. As he turned the familiar corner, he almost momentarily paused, watching for her so he wouldn't bump into her. When it didn't happen and she didn't come, he paused and sadly frowned, staring at the ground. Sighing, he continued on a couple minutes later. His mood started to lift as he arrived at the Pataki household, staring at it. "Ok, Arnold. You can do this. Just go up and knock. I don't think they would be so mad..." Thoughts of Big Bob filtered through his mind, and he frowned deeply.  
"Don't worry about him. Just go on in..." Her voice seemed to sweep over him, causing him to gasp.   
"Helga?" He whispered, not wanting to seem mental to the passer-bys. When no answer came, he shrugged and walked slowly up to the door, then knocked loudly, or at least it seemed loud to his anxious ears.   
"Hello?" The door opened, and a mascara-smeared face looked at him. "Oh, are you one of Helga's friends?" The owner of the wavery voice sniffed.  
"Yes."  
"Ok, come in. I thought I recognized you from the funeral."  
He nodded and walked into the silently dismal home. As soon as he and the person who answered the door walked into the living room, which was lighted better than the area where the door was, he recognized her as Olga. Big Bob didn't even notice his arrival, Arnold noticed. Miriam, however, looked up at him with a light, wistful smile, which he returned. "I, uh... Would it be ok... for me to... go into her room for a little bit?" He directed this at Olga.  
"Oh, yes, but do you mind if I go up with you? I've been wanting to... But I just can't go up alone..." She started looking weepy again.  
"Ok."   
She led him up the stairs, and opened the door to Helga's room. "Oh, baby sis..." She fell onto her younger sister's bed, crying.  
Arnold watched her sympathetically, then crossed over to her closet, but decided not to look in it while Olga was there. Instead, he busied himself with looking at a notebook that was on top of her dresser. It was a book of poetry, Shakespearian and others too.  
Olga sniffed and, sitting up, noticed him staring at it. "I gave that to Baby Sissy for her last birthday."  
"I didn't know she liked poetry that well... I should've known. She always did great in different school plays," He returned.  
She nodded. "If I had known... I would've come home for a couple of her plays. I suppose Mummy and Daddy didn't go to any of her plays..."  
He shrugged at this. "I dunno. I never saw them though."  
She looked down in regret, then didn't say anything more for a couple minutes. "I'll let you have some alone time in here." With this, she then ran out of the room.  
He sighed deeply and faced her closet. "Why do you want me in here? What's so important? Anything more about your feelings to me, something that holds great memories for you that you want me to know about?" His mind stopped working as he reached out, and shakily took hold of the doorhandle, pulling it open. Pink after pink... after pink... Dang it, enough pink! Pink dresses hung off of all of the hangers in the closet, and he pushed them all to the side, entering the closet. He gasped. Pink books lined the walls, and a few old things of his were around, like a few of his old baseballs and footballs with his names on them. A look of amazement passed over his face as he fingered the belt that was hanging on the wall. It was what Bridget gave him, when he was on his quest to save the neighborhood. "How did she get that!?" Shrugging, he approached the pink books and opened them. The first page was filled with a poem in light purple ink. Enraptured, he started to read.  
"When I first met you,  
I felt so blue,  
But after just seeing you at four years old,  
I didn't feel so cold.  
Now after all this time,  
I feel like a mime,  
Who people can't hear,  
And just simply they'll peer,  
Cruelly at the person in black and white,  
Like they are nothing because of their plight."  
He sighed sadly after reading this. She must have wrote it on one day when her feelings had been ignored by him yet again. When she couldn't stand to right a long, long poem like the others seemed to be. He thoughtfully thumbed through the pages, till he decided to just take all of the books home. There were over twenty books there, but it was worth it. He had, for some reason, bought a backpack, just in case he did find something that he thought she'd want him to keep. In this, he placed his stuff and most of the books into, one at a time, delicately, as if they really were a piece of her. When it seemed the pack would burst, he slung it over his back and staggered back at the weight of it, then picked up the remaining six pink books. "Hmm. Good-bye, Helga..." He glanced over the closet once more, then exited her room.  
  
_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^  
  
Years and years later, a grown man with a recognizable football shaped head covered in yellow hair held his nine year old daughter in his lap, with a six year old boy staring up at him.  
She blinked innocentally at him, her blue eyes filled with a curiousity. "Daddy, what do you want to show me?" She nodded her head up and down in time with her speech, her blonde ponytail shaking up and down, whipping over her face.  
He glanced at her with a smile, then looked at his son. "Run along, kiddo. I want some privacy with your big sister."  
Obligingly, the little red haired boy ran off. A blue hat was resting on his head, and Arnold smiled. He had given that hat to Sam just yesterday.  
Arnold's mind flew away with him. He remembered back to when he was eleven. He had gone to Africa, and succeeded to find his parents. When they returned, they moved, but when Arnold was eighteen, he returned to Hillwood to go to college. At that point in time, he had learned that Lila was going to the same college. Just three years later, although he didn't fully love her, they married. However, the marriage was short-lived. Just a single year after Sam was born, Lila was filing for divorce. After a messy court custody battle, Arnold recieved custody of the kids, and Lila recieved visitation. She wasn't very happy with it, but Arnold knew that she couldn't take very good care of the kids. Her latest husband, whom she had just married a few days ago, had some lousy job that didn't pay much at all. She had no job. Arnold, however, had become a very successful lawyer since the divorce and was paid quite well.  
"Daddy!" Gerry exclaimed. "What do you want?" She managed to wake him up from his daydreams.  
"Oh. Uhm, sorry, deary. I wanted to tell you about a part of my life that no one really knows of. I figure you're old enough to know. Hold this for a minute." He handed her a pink notebook. "When I was your age, there was a girl in my class with blonde hair, and she was really kind of mean. She was one of the bullies... And she had teased me since I was four. She called me Football Head." He chuckled at the memory. His daughter also had the football shaped head, but Sam had a head shaped more like Lila's. "Well, anyway, even though she seemed so mean and totally not someone I could really like, I found that... She had quite a sweet side. I've never forgotten her because of that. Heh, of course it was pretty rare when she showed the nicer side of her."  
Gerry nodded. "Ok, Daddy. Now what's the deal with this pink book?" She flapped it open.  
He smiled. "These were poems that she left for me..."  
"She left?"  
"Yes." His voice had a slight sad ring to it. He knew, now that he and Lila were through, that he would never marry again. He didn't want to. He thought daily of what he and Helga could've had and he had many, many of her books of poems around the house. He hadn't thrown any of them away. Some were in his office even. "Yes, she left when she was just about your age, Gerry."  
"Oh..." Gerry was a fan of poetry, and he knew she would enjoy these books. And, although some of it was a little too intense for her to understand, she recognized it as being very brilliant. "Why did she leave, Daddy? And where did she go?"  
He glanced out the large window of their house and sighed. "I don't know, on either of those questions, Gerry..."  
  
Outside of that very house, a shimmering light glows and changs into a grown woman's body. You can see through it, so you know it's a ghost immediately. Her long blonde hair sweeps down her shoulders, touching the parts of her arms that the white gown she wears doesn't cover and her blue eyes stare at her thirty year old love, and his two children. Her cherry red lips shape into a smile as a wind sweeped over her, and she was gone.   
  
  
The end.  
  
I-I-I feel like a homicidal maniac!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaa! *runs off wailing* 


End file.
